1. Field of the Invention
This invention lies in the field of amusement games and, more particularly, in the area of tag games involving the use of projected light. Players of this game project visible images on a gaming surface and seek to "tag" each others' projected image by causing the images to overlap.
2. Description of the Prior Art
To date there exist numerous examples of games which project light at targets. The advent of such games brought about simulated tests of marksmanship at the early game arcades. The prior art discloses games which project light at a moving or stationary physical target wherein the target includes either an optical detector or means to reflect the projected light back to the projection device for detection. Two games cited make use of projected light images as targets but do not achieve the goals of the presently disclosed game.
Games which project light pulses at physical targets which have photodetectors include U.S. Pat. Nos. 2,309,614, 2,404,653, and 2,710,754; these make use of a single light gun. U.S. Pat. Nos. 2,629,598, 4,192,507, and 4,232,865 have provision for multiple guns with a single target. U.S. Pat. Nos. 4,192,722 and 4,545,583 equip each opponent with a target and gun.
U.S. Pat. No. 3,655,192 is a single gun game which uses a passive, reflective target for hit detection by the gun. Recently, Worlds of Wonder has produced the game, LAZER TAG.TM., which provides each player with an infrared light-emitting pistol and a vest. The vest carries an infrared light sensor worn on the chest to detect and annunciate a hit by an opponent. U.S. Pat. No. 4,322,080 is an image-projecting amusement device which includes a target in the form of the stationary image of a racetrack or obstacle course projected on a screen. The image of a moving object under player control is projected on the target racetrack image. The moving object projector controlled by the player has an optical receiver mounted with it which images the projected object as it is being projected on the racetrack/obstacle course. This receiver can sense changes in light level reflected from the screen at the position of the projected object indicative of violation of the track boundary or encounter of an obstacle. This game does not allow players to compete via the independent projection of images.
Ideal Toy Corporation marketed a game entitled ELECTRONIC 2-MAN SKEET.TM. which made use of a projector unit to create a moving target image on a wall. Players used rifles containing narrow field of view optical receivers which when appropriately aimed at the target image would detect it and score a hit. Although this game does allow scoring competition between players, the immediate opponent is constrained to be an automatic target. The game allows only two players and unlike the present invention, the players do not project visible images. Such images provide the visual feedback necessary if a player chooses not to aim along his line of sight or if he is chasing an extremely dynamic target image which requires coordination of wide field vision with wrist action. Nitendo Incorporated has introduced the Nitendo Entertainment System which uses a single gun incorporating an optical receiver to detect target images produced on a television screen. These images are generated by video game cartridges which are played on a console connected to the television. Again, this game does not make use of player-projected images and confines the playing space to that of the television screen.
Pertinent areas of classification for the present invention are believed to comprise U.S. Class 273, Subclasses 310, 311, 312, 358, and U.S. Class 446, Subclasses 175 and 219.
That art which is known to the inventors does not include a tag game wherein players independently project visible images onto a gaming surface with the goal of causing their overlap or superposition and wherein such overlap is detected as a tag by the game hardware.